There is a lot of material that isn't right. Check these words from his original post; traded part time for a number of years and then day traded stocks full time for about ten years. I started with about 5K 20 years ago and built it up to over 1.4 million until about about six years ago. I made money every year until about six years ago 'Traded part time for a number of years and then day traded stocks full time for about ten years" - more contradictory statements galore.
Yes the OP story does make sense weather it was trading 300,000 shares a day or swing trading or investing. I myself have not went down that road of losing that much capital but i have hit a rut. I know people with similar stories to the OP. It is an addiction weather people want to believe it or not. And you can burn out after years and years. I wouldn't say the OP is done for good he has to go down a few more emotional cycles. He is going to hit a period when he will reflect on everything that has taken place. My biggest fear in this game is to walk down the road of some of my good friends. One of them took 10k from a credit card and turned it into 2 million after his taxes. He went to 0 in his bank and all he had was a Porsche that was paid in cash. When i tried to speak with him he told me "I didn't realize what i had when i had it" it's called greed. Our EGO is our downfall most of the times. From seeing so many situations i try and protect myself from myself. I use max loss limits on the day and only play with so much equity. I make stops by an old job of mine which i hated to keep me grounded and to remember that i don't want to be on the outside looking in for the game which i love. Back to the OP, do something else for a year or so or how long it takes before you make any decision. You may after a period of time feel how much you love this and spot your most common error. As far as the tears and it is a very eye opening situation, the basics get us back and then our edge brings us to a certain level. I had a four year run and one bad trade drop some coin, then went in a 4 month cycle of make and lose days/months before i said take some time off. I had turned into a nasty person before i took time off. When i came back i started slow and like a new trader. One step at a time and trade by trade in this business. Focus is key and when we lose it very tough to do well. Life itself has alot of up's and downs and it's how we handle them.Golftrader to point out some good things, a successful parent and a provider. That is not easy to do and you should be proud of this.
Anyone skeptical of/surprised by the OP's story probably hasn't been in this business very long. 2001 marked a massive sea-change in the U.S. equity markets. Of all the dozens of traders I knew who made 6 to 8 figures in 2000, <b>not a single one of them</b> was able to make even a quarter of their 2000 earnings in 2001. <b>Everyone</b> fell on hard times 2001-2003 when the dumb money stopped flowing, <b>everyone</b>. Those of you who are suggesting to GolfTrader that <i>he</i> did something wrong in 2001, and that his reversal of fortune that year was <i>his</i> personal issue... you guys really crack me up.
The surprise is not so much that things changed in 2001 as the inability to recognise the change for six long years. We all know (for those like me who started just before the bust - mine Dec 1999- and didn't benefit from the bubble) that the market experienced a horrendous bear market between March 2000 and March 2003, and what used to work hardly worked anymore. We never saw anymore stocks like QCOM returning 2800% in one year or unknown tickers like XLA returing 50000%.
Dude, the market is *very* different from that of 2-3 years ago and even more different than the one of 1997-2002. As a matter of fact, today's markets are noticeably different compared to even 1 year ago. Many strategies that were the "bread & butter" of many guys just have evaporated. Forget your dumb assumption of "bull" or "bear" markets. A good trader usually made money in the past regardless of bull/bear. But intraday volatility or lack thereof and especially what most traders used to rely on..."intraday range expansion" have severely contracted in the last 2-3 years rendering a lot of traders and their strategies obsolete. It's the Johnnie-come-latelies who cannot observe the differences of the markets. Many here giving "advice" are mere gamblers and have no idea of how to make $100K/$1mil/year from the market and their idea of a "good" market is one that goes up and a "bad" market, one that goes down. Elite Trader quality just keeps going downhill.
What extra point have you made? Where did you see the "dumb assumption" that you make money in a bull market and not in a bear market?
I have much to learn about real life. You are right on this. I re-read my response and see how it wasn't the best given the topic here, and I take the correction on that. I was just trying to share my experience with daytrading which to me, in my view, is not more difficult because I'm facing robots (programmed by HUMANS), or because it's on a short time frame. It's unfortunate that I've lost credibility in your eyes; I can only suggest you take what I say in the future with somewhat of an open mind, because I am nothing more or less than an honest guy sharing his opinions. Ignore my posts on order execution at your own peril, however, as I may not know much about life but I do know something about order flow scalping (enough to earn a living).